Wisconsin dairy farmer says milk production was boosted by HansonSilo.com patented Easy Rake It’s amazing how a simple, cost effective, but well-built machine like the patented Easy Rake silage facer, distributed by Hanson Silo, can do so much, in so little of time, and still save you stacks of money in production costs to raise your profits. Brian Anderson, 39, owner of Deer Creek Farms in Ashland, Wisconsin, who keeps busy with his 500 head herd of Holstein dairy cattle, is just one of many who have reaped the advantages of adding this indestructible piece of machinery on their farm or ranch. Anderson’s dairy operation, originally started by his dad in 1975, is situated on 2,000 acres and produces corn, soybeans and alfalfa in the heart of Wisconsin’s dairyland. The Easy Rake fits well with Anderson’s streamlined market strategy. With no moving parts and a hookup time of a few seconds, the Easy Rake silage facer saves him labor time and reduces maintenance and repair costs. “One of my dealers brought a demo out to Brian last summer. Brian noticed he gained more pounds of milk per cow within a week after replacing his rotary facer with the Easy Rake. What’s more outstanding, is he did it during the triple digit heat of July when cows are normally under more stress and give less milk,” said Mike Hanson, Director of Business Development at Hanson Silo Company. “I told him if I try it and I like it, I’ll buy it,” said Anderson. “I had a Berlon facer on my skid steer, it was slower and in the winter it was a pain in the butt to hook up the hoses and it had more moving parts. With my John Deere 624 payloader the Easy Rake is so much faster, you just hook up and go.” Farmers take precautions to get their hay crop cut and stored just right. Preserving particle length in silage is the key and a proven factor in raising bottom line profits. Use of an Easy Rake results in better particle length, less shrinkage, reduces spoilage, seals out oxygen, breaks up large chunks, gives better quality feed and saves feed. The rotary facer grinds it up into a less productive smaller particle length that is less digestible for cattle. Forages are the most important ingredient in a dairy cow’s ration. Effective fiber is the longer fiber particles required by the rumen to create the rumen mat essential for proper rumen fermentation and nutrient digestion to occur. “The most common forage problem we see is forages that are chopped too finely at harvest. Chopping forages finely aids packing in the silo and the resulting fermentation may be excellent. However, it may not be good for the cow. Many of the nutritional stresses caused by a lack of effective fiber are rations that start out with forage that was chopped at the proper TLC. However, due to a variety of human, mechanical or cow problems associated with the mixing and/or feeding of a TMR the effective fiber in the ration has been drastically reduced,” noted Jonathan Townsend, D.V.M. from the School of Veterinary Medicine at Purdue University. Anderson agrees with Townsend, attributing his gain in milk production to better feed quality. “I do believe it’s gentler on the feed. We’re not sizing the course particles down anymore — it keeps the length of the silage more like it is when we chop it. My milk production has gone way www.easyrakefacer.com www.hansonsilo.com 1800-THE-SILO up since getting the rake a year and a half ago,” said Anderson. “Feed normally goes through cows too fast, so by keeping longer feed in your rations, I do think I’m getting a couple more pounds of milk out of each cow each day. I can’t complain, the Easy Rake at a cost of about $10,000 probably paid for itself in three to six months time.” If you do the math on a herd of 500, a couple of pounds increase per cow per day can add up to about $30,000 more income per year. The Easy Rake also saves considerable time, and time is money. Anderson stores his feed in a 12-foot bunker and says it has reduced his facing time by half compared to the skid steer method he used to do. Hanson Silo Easy Rake sales have skyrocketed to locations all over the world. Sales leads for the patented Easy Rake are generated from their dealer network and website at www.hansonsilo.com, advertising and word of mouth to as far away as Uruguay, Russia, China Mexico and Canada and they have a large network of U.S. dealers that have been set up over the past years, noted Hanson. “It’s an easy sale because the Easy Rake is efficient, saves farmers money and requires no service after the sale. The neat part about it, is you hook up and go. Not only does it improve the feed quality and time spent feeding each day, but the safety aspect of being farther away from a pile that can avalanche down is huge,” said Hanson. Safety is a big factor why the Easy Rake has been a big seller. It’s not hard to come by stories where silage being brought down has caved in damaging equipment and even causing loss of life or limb. The length of the Easy Rake keeps the loader further away from the operator and there are no moving parts to break. Patented and designed by dairymen covering eight years of development, it also allows the operator to face all the way to the ground on any bunker, pile or bag, not half way, and from heights up to 59 feet. It is also capable of cutting through plastic, reducing the need to work near the silage cliff and many operators pull tires off the top of bunker with the Easy Rake. “We’ve had absolutely no issues with the Easy Rake at all. It has worked fantastic,” said Anderson. There are four of us that use the rake and we all are impressed with it. It’s done its job and works everyday,” said Anderson. What others say: "We've bought a lot of things at this farm and the Easy Rake is by far one of the best uses of our money. We use a 4 yard 821E Case wheel loader. Our silage crashed on the loader two different times. It took out the windshield, hood, turbo and dang near the operator. The Easy Rake was a great value compared to the damage we withstood.”, Tom Dombrowski, Kansas ____________________________________________________________________________ ____ “I do believe it’s gentler on the feed. We’re not sizing the course particles down anymore — it keeps the length of the silage more like it is when we chop it. My milk production has gone way up since getting the rake a year and a half ago. Feed normally goes through cows too fast, so by keeping longer feed in your rations, I do think I’m getting a couple more pounds of milk out of each cow each day. I can’t complain, the Easy Rake at a cost of about $10,000 probably paid for itself in three to six months time.” www.easyrakefacer.com www.hansonsilo.com 1800-THE-SILO www.easyrakefacer.com www.hansonsilo.com 1800-THE-SILO
"I love it, I am able to drag tires within 2 feet from the edge of the pile off onto the ground. Then I cut through the plastic with the rake- it eliminates the need to cut plastic and throw tires in the icy dangerous conditions."
-Donald Fieber, South Dakota
"I use it every day. It allows me to face the bottom of my bunker first. I sold the hydraulic facer. I didn't notice a difference in spoilage from the hydraulic feed face to the rake tracks- feed is packed well behind the face."
-Mike E., Illinois
"I've bought a lot of stuff for this dairy, and there is only one thing I would not part with. The Easy Rake, we had a silage collapse on our payloader 2 times and now we are much safer and happier-best use of $ in a long time."
-Tom Dombrowski, Missouri
"Safety and wear and tear on equipment makes the Easy Rake worth it right there, not to mention less shrink- better quality of feed."
- Matt Strickland, California
"This Easy Rake works great, it saves feed."
-Andy Thorson, Minnesota
"We bought one for both dairy farms and our heifer facility."
- Chris Engelmann, Minnesota (Owns 3 Easy Rakes)
"The Easy Rake works good and I use it everyday."
- Arjan Blok, Brookings, South Dakota (4th Year Easy Rake owner)
"We were repairing our hydraulic defacer weekly - we figure we had as much or more money in repairs, downtime and labor in six months than the Easy Rake silage facer costs.”
- Trent Stoller, Van Erk Dairy, Ohio
“The Easy Rake silage facer is faster and easier to use than any of my previous facers.”
- Cruz Mar Del Angel, West River Dairy, Minnesota
“It is so simple to attach and use.”
- Nelson Faria, Dairy Owner/Manager, Texas
“There is less maintenance with the Easy Rake silage facer. It is stronger than other facers.”
- Fermin Vidaurri, District 45 Dairy, Minnesota
“You can’t go wrong with such a simple design.”
- James Ailsby, Northern Plains Dairy, Minnesota
“Wintertime was very hard on my other facers. Hydraulics were difficult to connect and parts broke. The Easy Rake silage facer is durable and can handle Minnesota’s harsh weather.”
- Nico Guerrero, Riverview, Minnesota
“The more I use it, the more I like it.”
- Doug Nohl, Nohl Farms, Minnesota